1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the desalination of water. In particular, the invention relates to a process for providing water with a lowered salinity and which produces at least one recoverable waste stream containing a useful by-product.
2. Description of the Related Art
Water is purified on a daily basis for domestic use, for industrial use, electricity generation and many more applications. Waste water and water pumped from mining operations for example, also often have to be treated before being released into the ecosystem.
Most water treatment technologies generate a waste stream, often in the form of a brine solution, which contains the impurities that were present in the raw water stream as well as chemicals used in the purification process. The removal of the brine solution to a dumping site adds significant costs to the water purification process and is sometimes prohibitive to the implementation of a water purification process. A water treatment process which has the potential not to produce a waste stream which is not economically recoverable, would thus be advantageous.